First off, damn fine looking plants you got there Weedhound, and nice looking nugs of yours MVP. I want to crawl inside both of yours.

I don't think I was clear about my cloning. I think MVP was under the assumption that two weeks before harvest I take cuttings from my flowering plants to start the next grow. This could be done, but I would take the cuttings about 1 month before harvest, maybe even 5 or 6 weeks. What I was trying to say, and sorry for the confusion, was that I take cuttings from my mother plants 2 weeks before harvest time, not from my flowering plants. Cloning from budding plants is doable, but they take much longer to root since they must first revert back to veg. This method has a higher casualty rate, since they are in the cloner a long time, giving them more chances at mold or rot, and any number of other maladies.

If you are taking cuttings from flowering plants, try to get a bud that has a bunch of fan leaves, or as many healthy leaves as possible. Normally you try to get older cuttings from the bottom areas of the plant. You can remove the buds, but this is slightly more dangerous. You do not need to cut leaves in half unless your cutting is pretty big and there is a bunch of foliage. You do this so that the plant concentrates on root production instead of photosynthesis. The downside to doing this, and it becomes especially important if you took cuttings from flowering plants, is that the plant may eat too much of itself while it is getting adequate roots. In my system the plants usually start eating themselves toward the end of their stay in the cloner, and if I donâ??t leave enough leaves on the plant, they could eat themselves to death before getting adequate roots. It is common for plants to eat themselves during the last bits of cloning and flowering. Thatâ??s usually whatâ??s going on with the yellowing leaves.

Now if youâ??re interested, hereâ??s how I clone. I made a cheapo aerocloner which absolutely works wonderful. Probably as good as the expensive aeroponic cloners. It is very rare that a plant wont make it, maybe 2 out of 100. I take a cutting 4 or 5 inches tall, leaving as much stem on as possible. I put a few more cuttings than I need in a bucket and make sure they are covered with cold water for about 30 minutes. The cold water makes them perk up real nice. I like to have extra clones going if possible, then use the ones with the biggest root masses, and toss the others or throw them out in the woods if itâ??s spring or summertime.

I make sure everything is ready before starting, because you donâ??t want to leave them out of water or uncovered very long. Once you start you should not stop until youâ??re finished, and you should try to work fast. I keep a bottle of water nearby to mist them occasionally as I am putting them in the cloner. I start the bubbles, then get a cutting and lay it on a board or something flat. I scarify it (scrape off the outer membrane of the bottom inch or so - search â??scarificationâ?ť), then cut off the bottom at a 45 degree angle. The theory behind the angle is it will give you slightly more surface area for roots to form on. I dip the scarified part in powdered rooting hormone and put them it in the cloner. Most of the powder eventually gets washed off, but a little stays on. The water has a very small amount of B1 such as SuperThrive in it, and it should stay 2 or 3 inches below the roots.

I keep the bubbles going 24/7 until they start getting roots, then I go to 45 minutes off and 45 on (I think). Plants do much better and grow roots faster and bigger if they must search for moisture from time to time. One small tube fluorescent on all the time. They donâ??t need or want much light at this point. I keep them covered with a humidity dome (just another Tupperware container the same size) all the time, except for at least twice per day when I take off the dome and blow some air into it and into the canopy. The more you can do this the better. I donâ??t ever spritz them since I am usually battling too much humidity, sometimes even needing to pick out mold or rotted leaves toward the end. Wherever the leaves touch anything other than themselves, thatâ??s where the mold usually starts.

Once there is some good roots, I start hardening the clones. I take off the dome and watch them closely until they start to wilt, then I put it back on. Once the get perked up again, I do it some more. Pretty soon they will not need a humidity dome at all, and they can be put into the system. If one wilts a little due to lack of proper hardening, I put a baggie over it.

Sometimes I revert my budded plants back to veg. I just make sure I leave as much foliage on the plant as possible, and cut off about the top half of the plant. If you have like 10 or 15 good leaves on the plant it should revert without a problem. Just change the light schedule and nutrients. Some people say it will revert faster if you have a 24/0 light schedule, but I havenâ??t really seen evidence of this, having tried both ways. The plants look like they hibernate for a couple weeks or so, then you should start seeing new growth.